Search for the Smell

My wife had a 1994 Caprice. It was a beautiful car, with the same engine they put in the Corvettes. On the highway, it was one of the most comfortable cars I ever drove.

One evening, she told me something smelled dead in her car. I went and checked; she was right. Determined, I placed finding the smell as priority one for the next Saturday morning.

On Saturday, a quick search found nothing. Using my nose as a guide, I found the smell stronger under the dash. Knowing a little about the car, I decided a mouse found its way into the car through the air conditioning duct work.

I had a book, so I started in the easiest places. I first removed the air conditioner blower motor, looked around, and found nothing. Examining the book, I found there was a rheostat for the blower motor speed adjacent to the blower. It was in the plenum. Removing the assembly only required a 1/4" nut driver and the removal of two screws.

It was a hard to reach place. Without any way to get to the location, but to place my legs on the seat and lay on the floor mat, I went to work.

It was hot. The temperature was in the upper 80's and the humidity was about the same. What little I'd done had soaked me in sweat and the temperature was rising.

Wiping sweat from my eyes, I carefully removed the two screws, pulled down on the rheostat mount and I found the source of the odor.  A gooey, very rotten mouse - with maggots - fell on my chest, right under my nose. As I squirmed, scooted around and tried to get out of the car, I found my retching was just about to the point of losing breakfast.

I finally got out of the car, calmed down, spent some time examining my find and finally went to retrieve the necessary things to clean up the mess.

Later, I asked a mechanic about what happened and if he knew of a fix, since I could never find where the mouse found its way in. He laughed and told me he had no idea, but if I figured it out, to let him know. Apparently, the mouse problem was common and there was no known way to prevent it from happening.

Eventually I sold the car and bought my wife another. I was glad to see it go, since I knew it was only a matter of time before I had to go mouse hunting again.

If I Don't Write Something....

....people will think I turned to crap and the hogs ate me.

I could write for hours, but the thoughts that appear during the day are lost in the clutter and hard to find in the evening. I guess that's the nature of the beast, and I should carry a pocket recorder, which I have, but I don't. I guess I could rationalize, and come up with some really good reason, but I'm too tired to be creative and will chalk it up to laziness and a complete lack of focus.

While You're Toasting, Raise a Glass For Them Too

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, a raid was planned, executed and a few heroes changed the world. 

If you take away the politics of the days, the fact the world was involved in a great war and only leave those that manned the planes that performed the raid, you find the threads of the fabric that make the United States so great. The served, honored a country, and did so without any anticipation of glory.

The survivors have met for the last time and made their final salute from a special bottle of cognac.  I have no cognac, but I have some scotch. Here's to those that were part of the Doolittle Raid. Thank you for your service and may God bless.

Myths and Reality

Technology was instrumental in helping create the current Presidential Administration. During the creation, facts were ignored, vetting was avoided and a mythical person was presented to the gullible for use by the powerful.

The same technology has now exposed the myth, exposed the gullibility and the anger is brewing. Maybe the result will be a better informed public, with the determination to use a wonderful tool to destroy the evil of political ideology that promotes the removal of individual sovereign rights for the supposed good of the masses.

OMG, the BS is a BFD

During a short telephone conversation yesterday, the person on the other end didn't say "oh my God", they said OMG. I was amazed. Texting, Facebooking and other social network abbreviations are permeating our conversation. While this is probably an ever day occurrence for many, it was a first for me and I didn't like it. If someone is so busy they can't say three short words (and nobody is that busy) they need to find some relief.